John Ruskin

Sitter associated with 80 portraitsOne of the great thinkers and critics of the Victorian period, whose writings profoundly influenced attitudes to art, architecture and aesthetics; published 'Modern Painters', 1843-60, 'Seven Lamps of Architecture', 1849, and 'Stones of Venice' 1851-3; later turned to social and political problems, advocating socialistic reforms; keenly interested in science and an accomplished watercolourist. His unfinished autobiography, Praeterita is a highly selective account, and a radically different approach to autobiography, intended as an 'informal assemblage of memories'.

Watch a film clip on the artist from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

Media

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